Mark Cole
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Mark Cole

Gloucester, England, United Kingdom

Gloucester, England, United Kingdom
Band Blues Americana

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"Made in Mississippi album review #1"

For their second outing, the Sons of the Delta (Mark Cole and Rick Edwards) decamped to their spiritual homeland (Clarksdale, MS). In addition to recording "Made in Mississippi" with a little help from their friends, they also played several dates including Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero club.

Somewhat ironically, the album opens with a classic rocking Chicago style blues, "It's Me", which grabs the listener's attention. The first of two very famous friends (Pinetop Perkins) then takes his seat for the epic "Cryin' Down In Clarksdale", delivered Muddy Waters style, later returning to lead the band through his own "One More Time". Elsewhere Sam Carr anchors things in his inimitable style on the Wolf-like "You Can't Have The Hoo Without The Do", the excellent Hill Country stylings of "I Wish Somebody", and "eBay Blues" which gives a 21st Century twist to the "My baby done left me" tale.

The album is mostly recorded using a classic core line-up (guitar, harp, bass, drums), but Cole and Edwards are equally at ease in an acoustic setting. This is neatly demonstrated on "Pickin' With Phil" (Phil Wooten, 2nd guitar), "Clarksdale Strut", and "Train Roll" (with Stan Street on harp). It is the full band though , with Terry "Big T" Williams, that heads homewards on "I'm Moving On", calling to mind "The Thrill Is Gone", before closing out in the best Jimmy Reed style with "Standing On The Edge".

"Made In Mississippi" is a belter of an album. Mark Cole and Rick Edwards, do not just "play" the Blues, they "feel" it too. This gives them the edge over many of their contemporaries, because they add their own original twist to what some perceive as the tired idiom of the Blues. If they can maintain this standard, they could easily find themselves being lauded as Britain's Jelly Roll Kings."

Rating: 9/10 - Gordon Baxter in 'Blues in Britain' magazine


"Made in Mississippi album review #2"

For plenty of British Blues musicians, the chance to travel to the American South and record with a great bunch of original US Bluesmen would be nothing short of a dream come true. Last year, that dream became a reality for Gloucester musicians Mark Cole and Rick Edwards, aka Sons of the Delta. This splendid CD is the result of that musical pilgrimage... recorded live, the old-fashioned way, in studios and live venues in the legendary Mississippi town of Clarksdale, it features some great players - the wonderful and seemingly immortal Pinetop Perkins appears on a brace of tracks,
and drummer Sam Carr on three more.

Cole and Edwards clearly had the time of their lives on the trip and it's easy to share the duo's excitement, and indeed awe, at the surroundings and company in which they found themselves. It's an album with nary a duff track, making it hard to single-out individual cuts for praise. Personally, I especially liked the front-porch acoustic instrumentals 'Pickin' With Phil', 'Clarksdale Strut' and 'Train Roll' - very much the Sons' stock-in-trade, but no less enjoyable for that. But what a thrill to be able to
record something like 'Cryin' Down in Clarksdale' - introduced by Cole's brief instruction over the mic to the famous piano-man: "We'll do this one Muddy Waters-style, Pinetop... Muddy Waters." In mid song, he then throws out a solo to Perkins, with a simple cry of: "...play it, Pinetop!!!"

Cole and Edwards' trip to Clarksdale left them with a fine album, but also, one would imagine, something far more precious - a store of memories, stories and experiences that'll remain with them for the rest of their lives. Lucky guys!
- Tim Aves for Blues Matters! magazine


Discography

1995 The Dockery Boys - Moondog Man (Reckless Orange ROCD702)
2004 Sons of the Delta - One For The Road (Blues matters BMRCD20043)
2006 Sons of the Delta - Made in Mississippi (Rawtone Records RTR20061 - featuring Pinetop Perkins and Sam Carr)
2007 The Dockery Boys - Cajun and Zydeco (Music Masters)
2007 The Dockery Boys - Rare and Unissued, Studio and Live (Rawtone Records RTR20062)

Mark has appeared as a guest musician on...

1991 - Jeff Southern - Country Roads - accordion, harmonica, slide guitar
1992 - Malcolm Brittain - Landscapes of the Heart - backing vocals
1997 - Various - Christmas Line Dance - vocals, accordion
1997 - Various - Line Dance Spectacular - vocals, accordion
1998 - Various - Line Dance Session - vocals, accordion
1998 - ColvinQuarmby - ColvinQuarmby - backing vocals
2000 - Various - Cajun & Zydeco: Les Musiques de Louisiane - vocals, accordion
2000 - Various - Country Roads: the Line Dance Album - vocals, accordion
2001 - Tom Can't Make It - Postcard - accordion
2001 - Harry Nicholson - Where Were You - accordion, mandolin, backing vocals
2003 - Various - Jambalaya - vocals, accordion

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Bio

Mark Cole has been songwriting and performing for over 25 years. A powerful, passionate vocalist, he also plays a pretty mean harp, honest uncluttered slide and rhythm guitar, mandolin and accordion, and loves experimenting musically with other instruments and found objects. His many talents keep him in demand at studio sessions covering all types of roots music. Both in the studio and on stage he has played with or supported a great many artistes including Pinetop Perkins, Sam Carr, Willie King, Kent DuChaine, Alison Moyet, Dr. Feelgood, Chris Jagger (Mick's brother), Roy Wood, Ian Dench (EMF), Steve Gibbons, Mike D'Abo, Phil Beer (Rolling Stones session man), the Gutter Brothers, Richard Thompson, Australian blues maestro Mojo Webb, guitar legend Alvin Lee (at the Glastonbury Festival in 1994) and Chicago Blues legend Eddie C. Campbell.

Over the years he has received critical acclaim for his vocal performance and songwriting which has been described as having "a quality and professionalism that sets it apart from so many" with an "assured melodic delivery and ability to constantly impress" (Rock 'n' Reel magazine). He writes songs across many styles both for the bands that he plays in and other performers. As a multi-instrumentalist with his own studio he is able to turn around commissions quickly and to a high standard.

He performs internationally both solo, with his blues and roots duo/band Sons of the Delta and with roots/americana band The Jigantics. 

The Sons of the Delta have played at many recognised festivals including the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival (formerly the King Biscuit Festival) the Great British R&B Festival and the Cordoba Blues Festival in Spain. Their critically acclaimed albums, containing mostly songs written by Mark, are available widely in CD and digital formats. 

"Fantastic" Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2.  

"Righteous stuff" Joel McIver, Classic Rock's The Blues magazine. 

"Played a sublime set...certainly revved the crowd up" Russell Hill, Maverick Magazine.  

"One rock-solid tune after another... strongly recommended" Marty Gunther, Blues Blast Magazine.

The Jigantics regularly play at festivals, theatres and clubs in the UK and overseas. In 2017 they performed at the Costa Del Folk festival in Albufiera in Portugal to great acclaim. 

"Fantastic music from The Jigantics. A high quality, highlight act who are clearly destined for great things" The Daily Telegraph 2014.  

"A great and hugely entertaining band" John Tams 2015.  

"A fabulous fusion of blues, rock, folk and Americana that blew the socks off our audience. Absolute class." Steve Sheldon, Folk Icons. 

Prior to Sons of the Delta Mark was the primary songwriter and driving force behind roots rock band, the Dockery Boys. The band is no more although their back catalogue is still available. By combining solid, guitar driven rhythms with fiddle, mandolin and accordion the Dockery Boys successfully bridged the gap between rock-pop and roots music.